Page 88 of In It to Win It

“I’m an adult, not a kid. It shouldn’t affect me this much.”

“But it does. And that’s okay. You’ve had stuff dumped on you that you had no idea about. Of course it’s going to make you question everything your life is based on.”

She nods. “I’m that cliché kid who worries that I’m responsible for their breakup.”

“I think that’s pretty normal. It’s all a big change, and that’s hard.”

We keep walking. She talks. I listen. I don’t have answers to her questions, and I can’t make it all go away, but at least I can listen.

She stops in front of a sandwich shop. “Can we get some sandwiches?”

“You’re hungry? Sure.”

I do a double take when she orders three club sandwiches at the take-out window.

“Hungry?” I raise an eyebrow.

She smiles. “Yeah. Uh, I can pay for them.”

“Hell, no.” I make the order four club sandwiches, because I love bacon, and moments later we’re sitting at a picnic table, eating. I watch in amusement as Taylor feeds the turkey and bacon from half of one sandwich to Byron, who gobbles it down as she eats the other half.

“Is a club sandwich your favorite sandwich?” I ask her.

“Mmm. I don’t know. I really love a good grilled cheese.” Her grin is cheeky. “It’s my specialty.”

I laugh. “Yeah?”

“I’m not much of a cook,” she confesses. “I also make great popcorn.”

“I hope you’re not talking about microwave popcorn.”

“No!” Her mouth opens in horror. “I mean real popcorn. I make it in an ancient black pot on the stove.”

“Okay, good. ’Cause microwave popcorn isn’t much to brag about.”

“Microwave popcorn is . . . well, I won’t say it’s terrible, because I love popcorn in any form, but it’s not clean food.”

“You’re into clean eating?”

“Well, I will be when I learn how to cook more.” She grimaces. “I’m working on it. I’ve saved a bunch of good recipes on Pinterest.” She tips her head. “How about you? Do you cook?”

“Yeah, some. We get fed pretty well at the arena, and of course they give us good stuff—lots of lean protein and veggies. Over the summer I trained with some other guys in Montréal, and the trainer we worked with gave us great meal plans. It’s kind of fun trying new recipes.”

“It is. I guess it’s important for you to eat healthy.”

“Hell yeah.”

She feeds Byron a bit of cheese.

“What are some of your favorite foods?” I ask, picking up my bottle of water.

“Like, healthy foods? Or treat foods?”

“Do you really have favorite foods that are healthy?”

“Oh yeah! I love green beans. And roasted cauliflower. And avocado.”

“And raspberries.” I think about how I gave her my raspberries at the rehearsal dinner.

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